Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Well, here's a load of crap

Looks like Omar Vizquel won the NL Gold Glove at shortstop over Jack Wilson. Shockingly, I'd say Jack got hosed. I could go into it, but here's a quick reason why: Vizquel made 8 errors to go with 234 POs and 426 assists. Jack made 14 errors to go with 246 Ps and 521 assists. That makes the fielding percentage .988 to .982, almost the same. Jack figured in on ONE HUNDERD AND TWENTY-SIX DOUBLE PLAYS, while Vizquel chipped in on 80. And the clincher, Jack's range factor per 9 innings was 5.08, compared to the league average of 4.51. Vizquel's was 4.60. So quick comparison, Vizquel made fewer errors and (in the only category that actually counts) has more career Gold Gloves, which are the only stats in his favor. But when you consider that Wilson covered much more ground than Vizquel, played 11 more games, and turned FORTY SIX more double plays, well, Jack got hosed (fielding stats for Vizquel and Wilson from Baseball-Reference).